This is the first time we've gotten connected since we left George Town so all of a sudden there are five new posts!!

The southern end of Eleuthera is described as a whale's tail and we arrived off one fluke of it midway through Friday morning after an early start from Little San Salvador. It took several more hours until we were securely anchored just off the town in big and beautiful Rock Sound. That is a good-sized whale's tail. We kept the engine on, but used our main and yankee sails to good advantage, averaging 6.8 knots all the way.

Our friends Nancy and Jim (Solitaire) kindly invited us over for a fine evening of getting reacquainted over delectable treats and a cool drink. We last saw them in Little Farmers Cay, and they've been here for a few days already so besides catching up on each other's news, we received lots of tips on places to visit.

Accordingly, the four of us headed to the dinghy dock on Saturday morning for a walk-about. It is amazing to see real streets and streetlights. The town is laid out in blocks and we explored many of them. At our stop at the Ocean Hole, nicely landscaped in a park setting, a fellow zipped by on a bicycle, turned a wide circle because he had no brakes and slowed to a stop. He produced sapodillas to sample - and of course we purchased some from him. We plucked tamarind pods from the trees at the park and sucked on the sticky sweet-sour flesh as we walked. We hiked to the top of the hill where we could look out over the whole bay and pulled a couple of the long pods from Poinciana trees to rattle as we traveled.

As we arrived back in the centre of town again, we met up with George and Nancy (Trumpeter) who let us in on the secret of scrumptious BBQ chicken or pork at the Apple Hole Deli - available only on Saturdays. We hustled down there and were fortunate enough to get some (when it's gone, it's gone). It was absolutely finger lickin' good chicken - the best we've ever had.

I bought a new denim skirt - strange thing, my last one has mysteriously shrunk - and Nancy and I browsed through the well-stocked shops. The grocery store is large and has whatever one might want. There is a NAPA store (closed unfortunately so we'll visit it on Monday) and a shop with delicious pineapple rum liqueur among other bottles of well-priced libations.

In the evening the cruisers (up to 15 or 16 from the 6 here on Friday night) gathered at the gazebo in the north end of the anchorage. It was a terrific spot - left from a failed restaurant that looks as if it might be getting revived - and a terrific time too. We were delighted to see Deb and Paul (Werplayin) again as well as a number of new folks: Liberty, Dreamer, Sam the Skull, Flamingo, Tabby Cat, Interlude, and Eridanus (with us in Fernandez Bay) as well as Trumpeter and Solitaire. Ten Years After and Summer Breezes were here in the harbour too but I don't think I met them - after a few rounds of introductions I kind of lose track!

We decided to attend the Methodist Church on Sunday morning - along with Cathie and Tom (Interlude), Jim and Nancy (Solitaire) and George and Nancy (Trumpeter). It was a very nice service with some familiar hymns and a visiting preacher - from Nassau but visiting there from England. He was a fine storyteller and although we didn't hear the gospel singing we were hoping for, we did find the service meaningful and the Rock Sound people wonderfully warm and welcoming.

The South wind has come up a bit and even though several boats have relocated, we've opted to stay put because the fetch isn't uncomfortable and we like being close to the dock. We've reserved a car tomorrow and will go exploring with Nancy and Jim. We're so glad they are avid explorers too!